Cate Le Bon is a prolific writer, and this is her third album in three years that once again reveals her as a rare talent. Calling her ‘folk’ would not be wholly correct, because there is a leftfield element to her writing that makes her style rather unpredictable, and the way she uses her voice is totally unique. She can alternate from low, quite guttural sounds to high notes that are half way to a shriek, as she does in ‘Duke’, and get away with it. Meanwhile her more conventional songs always have a sting in the tail, an element that makes them different and contrary, without Le Bon trying to make them so – it just comes naturally to her. ‘Are You With Me Now’ is wistful and endearing, with its leading question, while ‘I Think I Knew’ feels like it is performed in the dark corner of a fairground, with some weird keyboard effects in play as part of a surprisingly tense duet with Perfume Genius that only eventually resolves itself. Le Bon’s creative sound imagery and refreshingly direct and often obtuse lyrics only add to the appeal of a personal and always involving album.
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
